Neeraj Chopra to face gold medallist Arshad Nadeem in Silesia Diamond League next month

NEW DELHI: Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra will face off against Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem for the first time since the Paris Olympics 2024 in the Silesia Diamond League 2025, which will take place in Poland on August 16.

At the Olympics last year, Nadeem won the gold medal with an Olympic record-shattering throw of 92.97m, whereas Chopra clinched a silver medal.

The official list for the Silesia Diamond League 2025 is yet to be announced, but the organisers have confirmed that both Chopra and Nadeem will participate in the upcoming event.

“Neeraj Chopra will face Arshad Nadeem. The Indian-Pakistani battle awaiting the Polish fans will be the first opportunity for revenge after the Paris Olympics,” the statement said as quoted by Olympis.com.

Speaking about Chopra’s recent performance in the sport of javelin throw, Chopra took the top honours in the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic 2025, a competition named after him at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru earlier on July 5.

Earlier, World Athletics updated the rankings, increasing Neeraj’s points to 1,445 compared to Peters’ tally of 1,431, according to Olympics.com. Also, Pakistan’s Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem sits at number four with 1,370 points to his name.

Neeraj lost his top spot to Peters back in September 2024, just shortly after the Paris Olympics, where he attained a silver medal with a throw of 89.45, and Peters took home the bronze.

The year 2025 has been incredible for Neeraj, as he kickstarted with a win at the Potch Invitational in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April and followed it up with a very special second-place finish at Doha Diamond League, where he crossed the 90-metre mark for the first time ever with a throw of 90.23 m.

He also went on to secure a second spot in the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Poland later that month and resumed his winning ways with back-to-back titles at Paris Diamond League and Ostrava Golden Spike this month, with best efforts of 88.16 m and 85.29 m. (ANI)